U.S. patent application number 14/965345 was filed with the patent office on 2016-03-31 for providing separate views for items.
The applicant listed for this patent is Amazon Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to Amy Bates, Maren M. Costa, Douglas J. Gradt, Eva Manolis, Gianna Lise Puerini, Sean M. Scott, John P. Simons, Brent Allen Vincent.
Application Number | 20160092592 14/965345 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47114611 |
Filed Date | 2016-03-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160092592 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bates; Amy ; et al. |
March 31, 2016 |
PROVIDING SEPARATE VIEWS FOR ITEMS
Abstract
Disclosed are various embodiments for providing separate views
for items. A network page providing a summary view of at least a
portion of a pool of items is encoded in a computing resource for
rendering by a client computing device. A window superimposed over
at least a portion of the summary view is rendered by the client
computing device. The summary view is deemphasized relative to the
window that is superimposed. The window provides a separate view
for examination of one item from the pool of items, and the window
facilitates a serial examination of the pool of items.
Inventors: |
Bates; Amy; (Seattle,
WA) ; Scott; Sean M.; (Sammamish, WA) ;
Vincent; Brent Allen; (Seattle, WA) ; Simons; John
P.; (Seattle, WA) ; Costa; Maren M.; (Seattle,
WA) ; Gradt; Douglas J.; (Seattle, WA) ;
Manolis; Eva; (Bellevue, WA) ; Puerini; Gianna
Lise; (Bellevue, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Amazon Technologies, Inc. |
Seattle |
WA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
47114611 |
Appl. No.: |
14/965345 |
Filed: |
December 10, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13619471 |
Sep 14, 2012 |
9245294 |
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14965345 |
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12608061 |
Oct 29, 2009 |
8311900 |
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13619471 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/240 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/9577 20190101;
G06Q 30/0603 20130101; G06Q 30/0601 20130101; G06Q 30/0641
20130101; G06F 16/972 20190101; G06F 16/986 20190101; G06Q 30/0643
20130101; G06F 3/04842 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30; G06Q 30/06 20060101 G06Q030/06; G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484 |
Claims
1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program,
that when executed by at least one computing device, causes the at
least one computing device to at least: generate a pool of products
from a catalog of products; and encode a network page including a
summary view of a subset of the pool of products comprising at
least two products of the pool of products, the network page
including code that is configured to render a pop-over window
superimposed over at least a portion of the summary view, the
pop-over window providing a separate view for examination of one
product from the pool of products, and the summary view being
deemphasized relative to the pop-over window by showing the summary
view as at least one of dimmed, shadowed, or grayed.
2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein
the program further causes the at least one computing device to
obtain a selection of a node within a taxonomy of products, wherein
the pool of products is generated from the catalog based at least
in part on the node selected.
3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein
the summary view further comprises a plurality of paginations
corresponding to a plurality of subsets of the pool of products and
a count of the plurality of subsets is based at least in part on at
least one of: a screen resolution of a display of a client or a
window size of a browser on the client.
4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein
the pop-over window is rendered in response to a cursor hovering
over the one product from the pool of products.
5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein
the program further causes the at least one computing device to:
encode a second network page corresponding to the separate view;
and transmit the second network page to a client separate from the
network page.
6. A system, comprising: a data store; and at least one computing
device in communication with the data store, the at least one
computing device being configured to at least: determine a pool of
items, the pool of items being in a sequential order; and encode a
network page providing a summary view of a subset of the pool of
items comprising at least two items of the pool of items, the
network page including code for rendering a window superimposed
over at least a portion of the summary view, the window providing a
separate view for examination of a particular item from the pool of
items, the summary view being deemphasized relative to the window
by showing the summary view as at least one of dimmed, shadowed, or
grayed.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one computing device
is further configured to: determine a similar item that is similar
to the particular item based at least in part on a history of
customer purchases that occurred in a session subsequent to viewing
the particular item; obtain a selection of an image in the separate
view, the image corresponding to the similar item; and update the
separate view for examination of the similar item.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one computing device
is further configured to: determine a second pool of items based at
least in part on the similar item; and update the summary view to
provide a subset of the second pool of items comprising at least
two items of the second pool of items.
9. The system of claim 6, wherein the window is rendered in
response to a selection of the particular item on the summary
view.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein data corresponding to the
particular item is pre-fetched by a client prior to the selection
of the particular item.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein data corresponding to the
particular item is transmitted to a client in response to the
selection of the particular item.
12. The system of claim 6, wherein the window includes at least one
component for facilitating a serial examination of the pool of
items within the window.
13. The system of claim 6, wherein the window is at least one of: a
pop-over window or a pop-under window.
14. A method, comprising: rendering, in a client computing device,
a network page providing a summary view of a subset of a pool of
items; and rendering, in the client computing device, a window
superimposed over at least a portion of the summary view, the
window providing a separate view for examination of a particular
item from the pool of items, the window facilitating a serial
examination of the pool of items.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising updating, in the
client computing device, the summary view for a second subset of
the pool of items in response to an item from the second subset
being examined in the separate view, the second subset being after
the subset in the pool of items.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, in the
client computing device, a selection of a particular option of a
plurality of options for the particular item; in response to
receiving the selection, determining, in the client computing
device, a price for the particular item based at least in part on
the selection of the particular option; and rendering, in the
client computing device, the price for the particular item on the
separate view.
17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, in the
client computing device, a selection of a particular option of a
plurality of options for the particular item; in response to
receiving the selection, determining, in the client computing
device, a quantity of the particular item that is in stock which
includes the particular option; and rendering, in the client
computing device, the quantity for the particular item on the
separate view.
18. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, in the
client computing device, a selection of a color from a plurality of
available colors for the particular item; and in response to
receiving the selection, updating a first image on the separate
view to a second image, wherein the second image corresponds to the
particular item in the color selected and the first image
corresponds to the particular item in a second color that differs
from the color selected.
19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: rendering, in the
client computing device, an image at a first resolution on the
summary view, the image corresponding to the particular item; and
rendering, in the client computing device, the image at a second
resolution on the separate view, the second resolution being
greater than the first resolution.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: obtaining, in the
client computing device, a selection of a particular thumbnail
image of a plurality of thumbnail images, the particular thumbnail
image corresponding to a different image as compared to the image;
and in response to obtaining the selection, replacing, in the
client computing device, the image on the separate view with the
different image.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of, and claims priority
to, co-pending U.S. patent application entitled "PROVIDING SEPARATE
VIEWS FOR ITEMS" filed on Sep. 14, 2012 and assigned application
Ser. No. 13/619,471, which is a continuation of, and claims
priority to, co-pending U.S. patent application entitled "PROVIDING
SEPARATE VIEWS FOR ITEMS" filed on Oct. 29, 2009 and assigned
application Ser. No. 12/608,061, issued to U.S. Pat. No. 8,311,900
on Nov. 13, 2012, both of which are incorporated herein by
reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Online retailers often offer thousands of items for ordering
or purchasing within an online catalog. Users typically browse such
items though an item search engine or through indexes of the items
within a taxonomy. In either case, the users may be presented with
a list of items, which may show only abbreviated information about
each item due to screen space limitations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better
understood with reference to the following drawings. The components
in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead
being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the
disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals
designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
[0004] FIG. 1 is a drawing of networked environment according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0005] FIGS. 2-6 are drawings of examples of user interfaces
rendered by a client in the networked environment of FIG. 1
according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0006] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating one example of
functionality implemented as portions of an electronic commerce
application executed in a computing resource in the networked
environment of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure.
[0007] FIGS. 8-9 are flowcharts illustrating examples of
functionality implemented within a browser executed in a client in
the networked environment of FIG. 1 according to various
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0008] FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram that provides one
example illustration of a computing resource employed in the
networked environment of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of
the present disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram that provides one
example illustration of a client employed in the networked
environment of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] Disclosed herein are various embodiments relating to
providing separate views for items. Items may include, for example,
products, services, advertisements, network pages, social
networking profiles, blog postings, digital content items, and/or
other items. When a user accesses a network site of an online
retailer, for example, the user may seek to search or browse for
items offered by the online retailer. In order to search or browse
for items, the user may specify a search query for an item search
engine, select a category link from a menu or taxonomy of items,
and/or merely access a network page of the network site.
Consequently, a list of items is rendered within a network
page.
[0011] Typically, the list of items is provided in a summary format
in order to describe a greater number of items within a single
network page. The summary format may include, for example, a title,
a price, an image, a link to order the item, a link for more
information about the item, and/or other descriptive elements for
the items. When the number of items exceeds a number that may be
described within a single network page, the list of items may be
paginated across multiple network pages.
[0012] Clicking on a link or button to bring up a detail network
page for an item may be inconvenient for the user. Such a detail
network page may replace the network page having the list of items
within the browser, which may annoy users who want to return to the
list of items after viewing the detail network page. In some cases,
the detail network page may be rendered within a separate browser
window that must be closed, minimized, or otherwise switched from,
in order to view another item in the list of items.
[0013] The various embodiments herein provide for a separate,
intermediate view between the summary view of the list of items and
the detail network page for the item. Such a separate view may
provide additional information about the item not presented within
the summary view containing the list of items. The various
embodiments herein facilitate the serial examination of the items
from the list of items within the separate view, which may be
rendered, for example, as a pop-over window. In the following
discussion, a general description of the system and its components
is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the
same.
[0014] With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a networked environment
100 according to various embodiments. The networked environment 100
includes a computing resource 103 in data communication with one or
more clients 106 via a network 109. The network 109 includes, for
example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks
(WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless
networks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of
two or more such networks.
[0015] The computing resource 103 may comprise, for example, a
server computer or any other computing device or system providing
computing resources. The computing resource 103 may represent
multiple computer systems arranged, for example, in one or more
server banks or other arrangements. To this end, the computing
resource 103 may comprise, for example, a cloud computing resource,
a grid computing resource, and/or any other distributed computing
arrangement. Such computer systems may be located in a single
installation or may be dispersed among many different geographical
locations. In one embodiment, the computing resource 103 represents
a virtualized computer system executing on one or more physical
computing systems. For purposes of convenience, the computing
resource 103 is referred to herein in the singular. However, in one
embodiment, the computing resource 103 represents a plurality of
computer systems arranged as described above.
[0016] Various applications and/or other functionality may be
executed in the computing resource 103 according to various
embodiments. Also, various data is stored in a data store 112 that
is accessible to the computing resource 103. The data store 112 may
be representative of a plurality of data stores as can be
appreciated. The data stored in the data store 112, for example, is
associated with the operation of the various applications and/or
functional entities described below.
[0017] The components executed on the computing resource 103 may
include, for example, an electronic commerce application 115, and
other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or
functionality not discussed in detail herein. The electronic
commerce application 115 is executed to serve up network pages,
such as web pages, that are encoded for rendering on clients 106.
In particular, the electronic commerce application 115 may
facilitate browsing or searching on a network site that provides
information about items and/or offers items for order. In various
embodiments, the electronic commerce application 115 may include an
item search engine, an item taxonomy, a network page server (e.g.,
a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server), and/or other
components. The electronic commerce application 115 may provide
shopping cart functionality and/or other functionality related to
electronic commerce.
[0018] The data stored in the data store 112 includes, for example,
item data 118, user list data 121, order data 124, page view data
127, network page data 130, and potentially other data. Item data
118 may include, for example, item titles, item images, item
descriptions, item prices, item quantities, item reviews, item
categories, item manufacturer, item technical information, item
sizes, item colors, item options, similar items, and/or any other
data that may be used to describe or otherwise relate to items. The
items described in item data 118 may be referred to as a catalog of
items associated with the given network site. User list data 121
may include data relating to lists of items associated with users.
Such users may be registered users with a formal account or may
merely be visitors. Such lists of items in user list data 121 may
include shopping cart lists used in placing orders, gift lists,
wish lists, and/or any other lists for users to track one or more
items.
[0019] Order data 124 may include data describing customer orders
of items. Such order data 124 may include quantities of items and
other figures extracted from an aggregation of orders, and/or may
include other details from the orders themselves. Page view data
127 describes a quantity of page views associated with network
pages that describe particular items. Page view data 127 may be
used, for example, to define the relationships among items
according to views of network pages. Such network pages may
include, for example, detail network page views for items, category
network pages including the items, and/or any other network pages
that can be associated with particular items. In some embodiments,
page view data 127 may include statistics generated from network
page server log data that directly indicate the number of page
views associated with each respective item. In other embodiments,
page view data 127 may include the actual log data generated by the
electronic commerce application 115.
[0020] Network page data 130 may include any data relating to
network pages served up by the electronic commerce application 115.
To this end, network page data 130 may include static network pages
or static elements of network pages, for example, in hypertext
markup language (HTML), extensible markup language (XML), and/or
any other language suitable for creating network pages. Further,
network page data 130 may include code that generates dynamic
network pages when executed or interpreted in the computing
resource 103. Such code may be written in any suitable programming
language, such as PHP, Perl, Objective C, Java, Ruby, etc. Network
page data 130 may also include code configured to be executed or
interpreted within a client 106 in order to render a dynamic
network page. Such code may be referred to as applets and may be
written in any suitable programming language, such as Java Script,
Java, etc.
[0021] The client 106 is representative of a plurality of client
devices that may be coupled to the network 109. The client 106 may
comprise, for example, a processor-based system such as a computer
system. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of a
desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant,
a cellular telephone, set-top box, music players, web pads, tablet
computer systems, or other devices with like capability.
[0022] The client 106 may be configured to execute various
applications such as a browser 133 and/or other applications. The
browser 133 may be executed in a client 106, for example, to access
and render network pages, such as web pages, or other network
content served up by the computing resource 103 and/or other
servers. The browser 133 may include a separate view applet 136
obtained from the electronic commerce application 115, which may
comprise any client-side code to be interpreted or executed within
the browser 133 on the client 106 in order to render a separate
view for items. The separate view applet 136 may include dynamic
HTML (DHTML), Java Script, Java, Ajax, ActiveX, and/or any other
client-side code.
[0023] The browser 133 may include a data cache 139 to store data
obtained from the electronic commerce application 115 and/or other
sources. The data stored within data cache 139 may speed rendering
or re-rendering of network pages by the browser 133 so that it may
not be necessary to re-obtain data that has already been downloaded
to the client 106. The client 106 may be configured to execute
applications beyond browser 133 such as, for example, email
applications, instant message applications, and/or other
applications.
[0024] Next, a general description of the operation of the various
components of the networked environment 100 is provided. To begin,
a user at a client 106 accesses a network page on a network site
from the electronic commerce application 115 over the network 109.
Through this initial access, or through a subsequent access, the
client 106 may provide item selection criteria to the electronic
commerce application 115. Such item selection criteria may comprise
keywords forming a search query, a selected node within a taxonomy
of items, an item category, and/or any other type of item selection
criteria.
[0025] In some embodiments, the user may provide no item selection
criteria. As a non-limiting example, a user may merely access a
home network page for the network site and provide no other input.
Default item selection criteria may be used in such cases.
[0026] Accordingly, the electronic commerce application 115
generates a pool of items from a catalog of items described in item
data 118. The items in the pool of items may be selected based, for
example, upon whether the items are associated with a particular
category, upon whether the items contain a search query term within
the title, and/or upon any other method for selecting items from a
catalog of items. In some embodiments, the pool of items may be
predefined. The pool of items may be associated with a specific
sequence of items. As non-limiting examples, the pool of items may
be ranked, or sequenced, based on relevance to the selection
criteria, sales, network page views, newest arrivals, and/or other
factors. To this end, the electronic commerce application 115 may
refer to page view data 127, order data 124, and/or other data in
order to perform the ranking. In various embodiments, the ranking
may associate each item of the pool of items with a priority, or
score.
[0027] After the pool of items is generated, the electronic
commerce application 115 encodes one or more network pages for
rendering in the browser 133 executing on a client 106. These
network page(s) provide a summary view of the pool of items. Such a
summary view may include, for example, item titles, item prices,
representative item images, and/or other information. Links and/or
buttons may be provided to facilitate ordering of the items or to
access other network pages providing more detailed information. In
one embodiment, the encoding may be performed according to code
stored within network page data 130. In one embodiment, the network
page(s) may include a description of the entire pool of items, for
example, in a document object model (DOM) format, or in some other
format.
[0028] The pool of items in the summary view may be paginated as
desired across multiple network pages to accommodate varying levels
of detail. In one embodiment, the browser 133 provides information
to the electronic commerce application 115 regarding screen
resolution and/or window size for the browser 133, and the
electronic commerce application 115 paginates the summary view
according to this information. In another embodiment, the browser
133 performs the pagination of the summary view according to code
embedded within the network page.
[0029] The network page(s) are then sent from the electronic
commerce application 115 to the client 106 over the network 109.
When the summary view is paginated across multiple network pages,
in one embodiment, the browser 133 may be sent, or may request,
only the data to be rendered within one of the network pages. In
other embodiments, the browser 133 may be sent, or may request,
data to be rendered in subsequent network pages in order to speed
rendering. Such pre-fetched data may be stored within data cache
139.
[0030] Turning now to FIG. 2, shown is a drawing of an example of a
user interface rendered by a client 106 (FIG. 1) in the networked
environment 100 (FIG. 1) according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 2 depicts an example of a
summary view 200 rendered by the browser 133. The summary view 200
depicts a portion of a pool of items generated in response to an
item search for the keyword "skirts." The keyword "skirts" is shown
as entered within a selection criteria input field 203, though it
is understood that a user may have arrived at the summary view 200
by clicking on a link or button on another network page that was
configured for the keyword "skirts." Further, a user may have
entered a uniform resource locator (URL) into the browser 133,
where the URL is specifically associated with the item selection
criteria.
[0031] The summary view 200 is shown with a ranking of "Newest
Arrivals" in a ranking selection field 206. As non-limiting
examples, other rankings may comprise "Best Selling," "Most
Relevant," "Most Viewed," "Highest Rated," etc. Although depicted
as a drop-box, it is understood that the ranking selection field
206 may comprise a text input field, a text area, a set of radio
buttons, and/or any other input means. Further, in other
embodiments, the ranking selection field 206 may be absent, with
the ranking being performed automatically or according to a default
ranking. In other embodiments, the ranking selection field 206 and
the selection criteria input field 203 may be present within
another network page but not within the summary view 200.
[0032] The summary view 200 may include a view description 209. As
shown, the view description 209 reads "Showing 1-6 of 212 Results."
This indicates that the pool of items comprises 212 items and that
the summary view 200 is paginated so that the first six item
results 212, 215, 218, 221, 224, 227 are listed according to a
ranking of the pool of items are shown in this summary view 200.
Although six item results 212, 215, 218, 221, 224, 227 are shown
within the summary view 200, this number is not intended to be
limiting. Some embodiments may employ no pagination or pagination
that varies among summary views 200.
[0033] Each of the item results 212, 215, 218, 221, 224, 227
includes a respective item image 230, 233, 236, 239, 242, 245, a
respective item title 248, 251, 254, 257, 260, 263, and a
respective item price 266, 269, 270, 273, 276, 279. It is
understood, however, that more or less information may be included
for each item result 212, 215, 218, 221, 224, 227 in other
embodiments. In various embodiments, the item title 248, 251, 254,
257, 260, 263 may comprise a link to access a network page with
more detailed information about the item. Additionally, there may
be links or buttons to order the item, and/or to add the item to a
shopping cart or other list, etc.
[0034] As illustrated in the example of summary view 200, a cursor
282 has hovered over the item result 212 and a link 285 entitled
"Separate View" has appeared. The link 285 may be configured to
launch a separate view for the item result 212 within another
window, such as a pop-over window or a portion of the screen
including the summary view 200. In some embodiments, the link 285
may always be visible or may appear in response to a single click,
double click, or other trigger. The link 285 may appear when
hovering over the item image 230, the item title 248, the item
price 266, and/or any element of the item result 212. The link 285
may comprise a hyperlink, a button, an image, and/or any other
means for launching a separate view. In another embodiment, the
separate view may be rendered automatically upon selecting or
hovering over the item result 212 with no link 285.
[0035] Referring back to FIG. 1, when the electronic commerce
application 115 generates the network page(s) including the summary
view 200 (FIG. 2), the electronic commerce application 115 may also
generate one or more network pages to implement a separate view of
one or more items. In one embodiment, the network pages including
the summary view 200 also implement the separate view. In another
embodiment, the separate view is implemented through a different
set of network pages that are sent separately across the network
109 to the client 106. In yet another embodiment, the network
page(s) including the summary view 200 also include client-side
code (i.e., the separate view applet 136) to allow the browser 133
to render the separate view when needed.
[0036] In various embodiments, data for rendering the separate view
for an item may be pre-fetched, or otherwise pre-loaded, on the
client 106. Alternatively, or additionally, data for rendering the
separate view for an item may be downloaded from the electronic
commerce application 115 on demand. The data communication between
the separate view applet 136 and the electronic commerce
application 115 may use Ajax, Java Script, XML, and/or other
interactive network page technologies.
[0037] With reference now to FIG. 3, shown is a drawing of an
example of a user interface rendered by a client 106 (FIG. 1) in
the networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) according to various
embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 3
depicts an example of a separate view 300 rendered by a browser 133
(FIG. 1) executing on the client 106. Further, the separate view
300 may be generated according to a separate view applet 136 (FIG.
1) executed by the browser 133. The separate view 300 may comprise,
for example, a pop-over window, a pop-under window, a separate
window of the browser 133, a logical window comprising a portion of
a primary window of the browser 133, etc. In various embodiments,
the rendering of the separate view 300 is tied to the rendering of
the summary view 200 (FIG. 2) such that the separate view 300 is,
at some point, superimposed over at least a part of the summary
view 200. In various embodiments, the superimposed separate view
300 may displace a portion of the summary view 200, which may move
or shift accordingly.
[0038] The separate view 300 provides additional information about
the item result 212 (FIG. 2) from the summary view 200. The
separate view 300 may include an item title 303, an item price 306,
an item description 309, a size selector 312, a color selector 315,
and/or other information and/or option selectors. It is noted that
although the item title 303 matches the item title 248 (FIG. 2) and
the item price 306 matches the item price 266 (FIG. 2), the item
title 303 and item price 306 may differ from those rendered in the
summary view 200. As a non-limiting example, the item title 248 in
the summary view 200 may be truncated or abbreviated to save screen
space, while the item title 303 in the separate view 300 may be
shown in its entirety. As another non-limiting example, the item
price 266 in the summary view 200 may be limited to one type of the
item, while the item price 306 in the separate view 300 may show
prices for different options or quantities associated with the
particular item.
[0039] It is understood that what is shown as part of a separate
view 300 for an item may depend on characteristics of the item. For
example, the size selector 312 and color selector 315 may be
appropriate for clothing but not for an electronics item. Further,
an electronics item may include, for example, technical
specifications within the separate view 300.
[0040] The separate view 300 may include an item image 318
prominently rendered within the separate view 300. The item image
318 may be the same image as the item image 230 (FIG. 2) rendered
within the summary view 200 or a different image. When the item
image 318 is the same image as the item image 230, the separate
view applet 136 may load the item image 318 from the data cache 139
(FIG. 1). In some embodiments, the item image 318 in the separate
view 300 may be rendered with a different (e.g., greater) size or
resolution than the corresponding item image 230 of the summary
view 200.
[0041] Additionally, the separate view 300 may make the item image
318 selectable from several item images 321, 324. As shown, item
images 321, 324 may be thumbnail images that, when selected,
replace the item image 318. The selected item image 321 corresponds
to the depicted item image 318 of FIG. 3. The selected item image
321 may be surrounded by a border (as shown), highlighted, or
otherwise emphasized. When a user selects the alternate item image
324, the alternate item image 324 may replace the item image 318
within the separate view 300. Alternatively, the alternate item
image 324 may be shown in a separate window or different location
when selected. Although two thumbnail item images 321, 324 are
illustrated in FIG. 3, it is understood that any number of such
item images 321, 324 may be provided within a separate view 300.
The number of such item images 321, 324 may depend on the
particular item being examined.
[0042] The size selector 312, color selector 315, and/or other
option selectors may be configured to interact with the item image
318 in order to show a variation in the item based on the option
selector. For example, the item image 318 may have been rendered
based on the color of the selected color selector 327. In various
embodiments, the separate view applet 136 may be configured to
generate a replacement item image 318 on demand based at least in
part on one or more option selectors.
[0043] In various embodiments, the separate view 300 may provide a
plurality of similar items 330 according to the item result 212
being examined. The similar items 330 may be selected by the
electronic commerce application 115 (FIG. 1), based, for example,
on item data 118 (FIG. 1), order data 124 (FIG. 1), page view data
127 (FIG. 1), and/or other data. In some embodiments, the similar
items 330 may be predefined for the item being examined. As
illustrated, the similar items 330 may be rendered as thumbnail
images of items along with a similar items label 333. The similar
items label 333 states: "Related Items." In other embodiments, the
similar items label 333 may state, for example, "Similar Items,"
"Customers who viewed this item also viewed," "Customers who viewed
this item ultimately purchased," etc.
[0044] Similar items 330 that have been viewed by customers who
also viewed the item being examined may be helpful to users who may
want to browse through many types of similar items 330 in
categories such as, for example, apparel. Similar items 330 may
relate to items that were ultimately purchased by customers who
viewed the particular item. Such similar items 330 may be helpful
to users who are doing research to find the best particular item to
buy in an item category such as, for example, electronics. Similar
items 330 may comprise alternate items, accessory items,
recommended items, etc. Other types of similar items 330 may be
provided.
[0045] The similar items 330 may comprise links wherein selecting
(e.g., clicking on, hovering over, etc.) the image or
representation of the similar item 330 may load the similar item
330 for examination within the separate view 300. Alternatively,
the similar item 330 may be loaded for examination within the
window of the summary view 200 or within another window of the
browser 133. When the similar item 330 is loaded for examination
within the separate view 300, a different pool of items may be
loaded for serial examination within the separate view 300.
[0046] The separate view 300 may also include several links and/or
buttons used to perform an action relative to the item being
examined. To this end, the separate view 300 may include an add to
cart link 336, an add to list link 339, a details link 342, and/or
other links. The add to cart link 336, when selected, may add the
item result 212 to a shopping cart list associated with the user.
Additionally, the add to cart link 336 may facilitate the ordering
of the item result 212 according to any options selected or entered
within the separate view 300. The add to list link 339, when
selected, may add the item result 212 to a user list, e.g., a wish
list, a gift list, and/or any other type of list of items that may
be stored in user list data 121 (FIG. 1).
[0047] The details link 342, when selected, may be configured to
launch a detailed view for the item result 212. Such a detailed
view may be rendered in the same browser 133 window as the summary
view 200, the separate view 300, or some other browser 133 window.
Such a detailed view may include information and/or input fields in
addition to those depicted in the separate view 300 for the
particular item result 212.
[0048] Additionally, the separate view 300 may include information
and tools at the top of the window to facilitate serial examination
of the pool of items in ranked priority order. A label 345 shows
that the item result 212 being examined in the separate view 300 is
the first item from of a pool of 212 items. Toggle tools 348, 351
provide an interface for a serial movement, i.e., the switching of
items from the pool of items for serial examination. A close button
354 may also be provided in order to close the separate view 300
and return, for example, to the summary view 200.
[0049] Toggle tools 348, 351 may comprise links, buttons, images,
and/or other user interface elements. Toggle tool 348, when
selected, causes a previous item of the pool of items to be
examined within the separate view 300. The previous item may be
associated with a higher priority than the item being examined.
Toggle tool 351, when selected, causes a next item of the pool of
items to be examined within the separate view 300. The next item
may be associated with a lower priority than the item being
examined.
[0050] In various embodiments, the toggle tools 348, 351 may be
selected through a keyboard, voice recognition, and/or other data
input techniques. In one embodiment, when no previous item or next
item is available in the pool of items, the toggle tools 348, 351
may cause the separate view 300 to cycle to the last item or the
first item of the pool of items, respectively. In another
embodiment, when no previous item or next item is available in the
pool of items, the toggle tools 348, 351 may not be selectable and
may, for example, be grayed out. In one embodiment, the toggle tool
348, 351 may be selectable so as to enable an automatic sequential
rendering of item results from the pool of items, with each item
being rendered for a time period.
[0051] When a toggle tool 348, 351 is selected, the separate view
applet 136 may preliminarily update the separate view 300 with data
loaded from the data cache 139. As a non-limiting example, the
separate view applet 136 may have data relating to the next or
previous item result from a DOM previously sent to the browser 133.
Where the item image 318 is cached, the separate view 300 may be
rendered, for example, with the item image 318 while the data
related to the other features is downloaded from the electronic
commerce application 115.
[0052] When the separate view 300 is updated for an item not
displayed in the corresponding summary view 200, the separate view
applet 136 may cause the summary view 200 to be updated for a next
portion of the pool of items. The next portion of the pool of items
may be sequenced after or before the portion of the pool of items
originally rendered in the summary view 200.
[0053] In some embodiments, the separate view applet 136 may
prefetch data for items from the pool of items that may be
subsequently examined by the user. As a non-limiting example, when
a user has loaded an item for examination, the separate view applet
136 may prefetch data for the next several items from the pool of
items in order to speed rendering of the next several items during
serial examination. Such prefetched data may be cached in the data
cache 139.
[0054] Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is a drawing of an example
of a user interface rendered by a client 106 (FIG. 1) in the
networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) according to various embodiments
of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 4 depicts an example
of a browser 133 rendering a separate view 300 (FIG. 3)
superimposed over a summary view 200 (FIG. 2). In this non-limiting
example, the separate view 300 is rendered as a pop-over window.
The summary view 200 is shown deemphasized relative to the separate
view 300. In this non-limiting example, summary view 200 is shown
dimmed, shadowed, or grayed, but other forms of relative emphasis
may be used.
[0055] Turning now to FIG. 5, shown is a drawing of an example of a
user interface rendered by a client 106 (FIG. 1) in the networked
environment 100 (FIG. 1) according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 5 depicts an example of a
separate view 300 rendered by a browser 133 (FIG. 1) executing on
the client 106. In FIG. 5, a different color selector 503 is
selected, corresponding to a different item color than in FIG. 3,
and the item image 506 is altered relative to item image 318 (FIG.
3) to depict the different item color. Moreover, a different
thumbnail item image 509 is selected, and item image 506
corresponds to the thumbnail item image 509. The separate view 300
may be updated by the separate view applet 136 (FIG. 1) in response
to user interaction. Such updating may involve requesting
additional data from the electronic commerce application 115 (FIG.
1) and/or may involve loading data stored in the data cache 139
(FIG. 1). Data that is downloaded may be stored in the data cache
139 for faster rendering.
[0056] Moving next to FIG. 6, shown is a drawing of an example of a
user interface rendered by a client 106 (FIG. 1) in the networked
environment 100 (FIG. 1) according to various embodiments of the
present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 6 depicts an example of a
separate view 300 rendered by a browser 133 (FIG. 1) executing on
the client 106. In FIG. 6, the separate view 300 has been updated
for a next item result 215 (FIG. 2) in the pool of items. To this
end, separate view 300 includes a label 601 that is changed from
label 345 (FIG. 3) to indicate that the current item result 215
being examined is the second result out of 212 results.
Additionally, item title 603, item price 606, item description 609,
color selector 615, selected color selector 616, and other features
have been updated for the item result 215.
[0057] Further, a different item image 618 is rendered, along with
different thumbnail item images 621, 624. Thumbnail item image 621
is shown as selecting the item image 618 that is prominently
displayed. Because the item result 215 has changed from the item
result 212 (FIG. 2), a different plurality of similar items 630 is
provided.
[0058] Referring next to FIG. 7, shown is a flowchart that provides
one example of the operation of a portion of the electronic
commerce application 115 according to various embodiments. It is
understood that the flowchart of FIG. 7 provides merely an example
of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be
employed to implement the operation of the portion of the
electronic commerce application 115 as described herein. As an
alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 7 may be viewed as depicting an
example of steps of a method implemented in the computing resource
103 (FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.
[0059] Beginning with box 703, the electronic commerce application
115 generates a pool of items, which may be in response to
user-provided selection criteria such as a search query, a
category, and/or other criteria. In other embodiments, the
electronic commerce application 115 may generate the pool of items
based on other criteria that are not provided by users. The pool of
items is generated by the electronic commerce application 115 in a
sequenced order according to a priority of the respective items.
The type of sequencing of the pool of items may be determined by a
user-supplied parameter or may be determined according to a default
sequencing. The type of sequencing may include, for example, newest
arrivals, best selling, most relevant, etc.
[0060] In box 706, the electronic commerce application 115
generates one or more network pages including at least a portion of
the pool of items. The network page(s) implement a summary view 200
(FIG. 2) of the portion of the pool of items. How many of the items
from the pool of items are included within the portion may depend
on pagination parameters associated with the computing resource 103
or the client 106 (FIG. 1) in particular. The network page may
include information about the entire pool of items, for example,
within a data structure such as a DOM. The network page may also
implement an applet or other client-side code (such as the separate
view applet 136 (FIG. 1)) that provides a separate view 300 (FIG.
3) for examination of one item from the pool of items. In box 709,
the network page (or network pages) is sent to the client 106.
[0061] Next, in box 712, the electronic commerce application 115
may receive a request for additional data from the client 106. As a
non-limiting example, a user may have initiated rendering of a
separate view 300 of a particular item result 218 (FIG. 2), and the
separate view applet 136 may in turn request any additional data
that would be necessary to render the features for the separate
view 300. The additional data may be loaded from the item data 118
(FIG. 1) or other data within the data store 112 (FIG. 1). In box
715, the electronic commerce application 115 sends the additional
data to the client 106.
[0062] In box 718, the electronic commerce application 115 may
receive a request for a next network page from the client 106. As a
non-limiting example, the client 106 may be rendering a summary
view 200 of the first portion of the pool of items when the user
navigates to an item in another portion of the pool of items. As
another non-limiting example, the client 106 may be rendering a
separate view 300 for a particular item when the user serially
moves to another item not within the corresponding summary view
200, thereby triggering an update of the summary view 200 for a
next portion of a pool of items.
[0063] In box 721, the electronic commerce application 115
generates a next network page (or network pages) including at least
a next portion of the pool of items. Then, in box 724, the
electronic commerce application 115 sends the next network page(s)
to the client 106. It is understood that the tasks of boxes 712-724
may be repeated any number of times according to user interaction
at the client 106. Thereafter, the electronic commerce application
115 ends.
[0064] Turning now to FIG. 8, shown is a flowchart that provides
one example of the operation of a portion of the separate view
applet 136 according to various embodiments. It is understood that
the flowchart of FIG. 8 provides merely an example of the many
different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to
implement the operation of the portion of the separate view applet
136 as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 8
may be viewed as depicting an example of steps of a method
implemented in the client 106 (FIG. 1) according to one or more
embodiments.
[0065] Beginning with box 803, the separate view applet 136 renders
a network page including at least a portion of the pool of items
generated by the electronic commerce application 115 (FIG. 1). The
network page may be a summary view 200 (FIG. 2). Next, in box 806,
the separate view applet 136 receives a user request for a separate
view 300 (FIG. 3) to be rendered for an item. A user may, for
example, hover over a particular item result 218 (FIG. 2) and
select a function to launch the separate view 300 for the
particular item result 218.
[0066] In box 809, the separate view applet 136 determines whether
data relating to the item result 218 has been cached, for example,
in data cache 139 (FIG. 1). If the data has not been cached, the
separate view applet 136 moves to box 812 and obtains the data for
the item result 218 from the electronic commerce application 115
executing on the computing resource 103 (FIG. 1). Thereafter, the
separate view applet 136 moves to box 815. If the separate view
applet 136 determines that the data has been cached, the cached
data may be used and the separate view applet 136 also moves to box
815.
[0067] In box 815, the separate view applet 136 renders the
separate view 300 for the item result 218. The separate view 300
may be rendered, for example, as an auxiliary window superimposed
over a part of the summary view 200. To this end, the summary view
200 may be deemphasized relative to the separate view 300.
[0068] Next, in box 818, the separate view applet 136 receives a
user request to update the separate view 300 for a next item result
221 (FIG. 2). It is understood that the user request may instead be
to update the separate view 300 for a previous item result 215
(FIG. 2). The user request may be initiated, for example, through a
toggle tool 348, 351 (FIG. 3). In box 821, the separate view applet
136 determines whether data relating to the next item result 221
has been cached. If the data has not been cached, the separate view
applet 136 moves to box 824 and obtains the data relating to the
next item result 221 from the electronic commerce application 115
executing on the computing resource 103.
[0069] Thereafter, the separate view applet 136 moves to box 827.
If the separate view applet 136 determines in box 821 that the data
has been cached, the cached data may be used and the separate view
applet 136 also moves to box 827.
[0070] In box 827, the separate view applet 136 updates, or
renders, the separate view 300 for the next item result 221. Then,
in box 830, the separate view applet 136 determines whether the
next item result 221 is included within the network page providing
the summary view 200. If the separate view applet 136 determines
that the next item result 221 is included within the summary view
200, the separate view applet 136 ends. Otherwise, the separate
view applet 136 moves to box 833 and renders a next network page
including another portion of the pool of items, where the another
portion of the pool of items includes the next item result 221. To
this end, the separate view applet 136 may download the next
network page from the electronic commerce application 115 or may
render the next network page from cached data. Thereafter, the
separate view applet 136 ends.
[0071] Turning now to FIG. 9, shown is a flowchart that provides
another example of the operation of a portion of the separate view
applet 136 according to various embodiments. It is understood that
the flowchart of FIG. 9 provides merely an example of the many
different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to
implement the operation of the portion of the separate view applet
136 as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 9
may be viewed as depicting an example of steps of a method
implemented in the client 106 (FIG. 1) according to one or more
embodiments.
[0072] Beginning with box 903, the separate view applet 136 renders
a separate view 300 (FIG. 3) for an item. Then, in box 906, the
separate view applet 136 receives a user request for the separate
view 300 to be updated for a next item from the pool of items. For
example, the user may select a toggle tool 348, 351 (FIG. 3). It is
understood that the same functionality may also be applied to a
request for an update for a previous item from the pool of
items.
[0073] In box 909, the separate view applet 136 determines whether
there are previous incomplete update requests still pending. If so,
the separate view applet 136 moves to box 912 and cancels the
previous incomplete update requests. Thereafter, the separate view
applet 136 proceeds to box 915. If the separate view applet 136
determines in box 909 that no previous incomplete update requests
are pending, the separate view applet 136 also proceeds to box
915.
[0074] In box 915, the separate view applet 136 determines whether
data relating to the next item is cached, for example, in data
cache 139 (FIG. 1). If the data is not cached, the separate view
applet 136 proceeds to box 918 and obtains data relating to the
next item from the electronic commerce application 115 (FIG. 1).
Thereafter, the separate view applet 136 proceeds to box 921. If
the data is cached, the separate view applet 136 uses the cached
data and also proceeds to box 921.
[0075] In box 921, the separate view 300 is updated for the next
item. Next, in box 924, the separate view applet 136 determines
whether another update request has been issued. If another update
request has been issued, the separate view applet 136 returns to
box 906 and receives the user request for the separate view 300 to
be updated for another next item in the pool of items and proceeds
from there. If another update request has not been issued, the
separate view applet 136 ends.
[0076] With reference to FIG. 10, shown is a schematic block
diagram of the computing resource 103 according to an embodiment of
the present disclosure. The computing resource 103 includes at
least one processor circuit, for example, having a processor 1003
and a memory 1006, both of which are coupled to a local interface
1009. To this end, the computing resource 103 may comprise, for
example, at least one server computer or like device. The local
interface 1009 may comprise, for example, a data bus with an
accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be
appreciated.
[0077] Stored in the memory 1006 are both data and several
components that are executable by the processor 1003. In
particular, stored in the memory 1006 and executable by the
processor 1003 are the electronic commerce application 115 and
potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory 1006 may
be a data store 112 and other data. In addition, an operating
system may be stored in the memory 1006 and executable by the
processor 1003.
[0078] With reference to FIG. 11, shown is a schematic block
diagram of the client 106 according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure. The client 106 includes at least one processor circuit,
for example, having a processor 1103 and a memory 1106, both of
which are coupled to a local interface 1109. The local interface
1109 may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying
address/control bus or other bus structure as can be
appreciated.
[0079] Stored in the memory 1106 are both data and several
components that are executable by the processor 1103. In
particular, stored in the memory 1106 and executable by the
processor 1103 are the browser 133, including the separate view
applet 136, the data cache 139, and potentially other applications.
In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory 1106
and executable by the processor 1103.
[0080] Referring now to both FIGS. 10 and 11, it is understood that
there may be other applications that are stored in the memories
1006, 1106 and are executable by the processors 1003, 1103 as can
be appreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented
in the form of software, any one of a number of programming
languages may be employed such as, for example, C, C++, C#,
Objective C, Java, Java Script, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Python,
Ruby, Delphi, Flash, or other programming languages.
[0081] A number of software components are stored in the memories
1006, 1106 and are executable by the processors 1003, 1103. In this
respect, the term "executable" means a program file that is in a
form that can ultimately be run by the processors 1003, 1103.
Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled
program that can be translated into machine code in a format that
can be loaded into a random access portion of the memories 1006,
1106 and run by the processors 1003, 1103, source code that may be
expressed in proper format such as object code that is capable of
being loaded into a random access portion of the memories 1006,
1106 and executed by the processors 1003, 1103, or source code that
may be interpreted by another executable program to generate
instructions in a random access portion of the memories 1006, 1106
to be executed by the processors 1003, 1103, etc. An executable
program may be stored in any portion or component of the memories
1006, 1106 including, for example, random access memory (RAM),
read-only memory (ROM), hard drive, solid-state drive, USB flash
drive, memory card, optical disc such as compact disc (CD) or
digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetic tape, or other
memory components.
[0082] The memories 1006, 1106 are defined herein as including both
volatile and nonvolatile memory and data storage components.
Volatile components are those that do not retain data values upon
loss of power. Nonvolatile components are those that retain data
upon a loss of power. Thus, the memories 1006, 1106 may comprise,
for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),
hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, memory
cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disks accessed via
an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed via an
optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tape
drive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two
or more of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may
comprise, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic
random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory
(MRAM) and other such devices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a
programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable
read-only memory (EEPROM), or other like memory device.
[0083] Also, the processors 1003, 1103 may represent multiple
processors 1003, 1103 and the memories 1006, 1106 may represent
multiple memories 1006, 1106 that operate in parallel processing
circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interfaces 1009,
1109 may be an appropriate network 109 (FIG. 1) that facilitates
communication between any two of the multiple processors 1003,
1103, between any processors 1003, 1103 and any of the memories
1006, 1106, or between any two of the memories 1006, 1106, etc. The
local interfaces 1009, 1109 may comprise additional systems
designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example,
performing load balancing. The processors 1003, 1103 may be of
electrical or of some other available construction.
[0084] Although the electronic commerce application 115, the
browser 133, the separate view applet 136, the data cache 139, and
other various systems described herein may be embodied in software
or code executed by general purpose hardware as discussed above, as
an alternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware
or a combination of software/general purpose hardware and dedicated
hardware. If embodied in dedicated hardware, each can be
implemented as a circuit or state machine that employs any one of
or a combination of a number of technologies. These technologies
may include, but are not limited to, discrete logic circuits having
logic gates for implementing various logic functions upon an
application of one or more data signals, application specific
integrated circuits having appropriate logic gates, or other
components, etc. Such technologies are generally well known by
those skilled in the art and, consequently, are not described in
detail herein.
[0085] The flowcharts of FIGS. 7-9 show the functionality and
operation of an implementation of portions of the electronic
commerce application 115 and the separate view applet 136. If
embodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment,
or portion of code that comprises program instructions to implement
the specified logical function(s). The program instructions may be
embodied in the form of source code that comprises human-readable
statements written in a programming language or machine code that
comprises numerical instructions recognizable by a suitable
execution system such as processors 1003, 1103 in a computer system
or other system. The machine code may be converted from the source
code, etc. If embodied in hardware, each block may represent a
circuit or a number of interconnected circuits to implement the
specified logical function(s).
[0086] Although the flowcharts of FIGS. 7-9 show a specific order
of execution, it is understood that the order of execution may
differ from that which is depicted. For example, the order of
execution of two or more blocks may be scrambled relative to the
order shown. Also, two or more blocks shown in succession in FIGS.
7-9 may be executed concurrently or with partial concurrence. In
addition, any number of counters, state variables, warning
semaphores, or messages might be added to the logical flow
described herein, for purposes of enhanced utility, accounting,
performance measurement, or providing troubleshooting aids, etc. It
is understood that all such variations are within the scope of the
present disclosure.
[0087] Also, any logic or application described herein, including
the electronic commerce application 115, the browser 133, the
separate view applet 136, and the data cache 139, that comprises
software or code can be embodied in any computer-readable medium
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system
such as, for example, a processors 1003, 1103 in a computer system
or other system. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for
example, statements including instructions and declarations that
can be fetched from the computer-readable medium and executed by
the instruction execution system. In the context of the present
disclosure, a "computer-readable medium" can be any medium that can
contain, store, or maintain the logic or application described
herein for use by or in connection with the instruction execution
system. The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of many
physical media such as, for example, electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor media. More specific
examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include, but
are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes,
magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USB flash
drives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium may be
a random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random
access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or
magnetic random access memory (MRAM). In addition, the
computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a
programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable
read-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device.
[0088] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments
of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of
implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the
principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may
be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing
substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All
such modifications and variations are intended to be included
herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the
following claims.
* * * * *